Local towns ask motorists to slow it down

Following some freakish single-vehicle accidents and some complaints about child safety several local town officials are asking motorists to slow it down this spring and summer.

Earlier this week, the town of Logan saw an unusual accident when an elderly driver struck a parked vehicle in town… It was far from the only incident of that type lately… Just a few weeks earlier, neighboring West Logan saw not one but two unusual accidents. One where a driver lost control on Second Avenue and struck a truck, and flipping the car, the other a few weeks earlier where a young man lost control of his vehicle, hit a yard, went over an alley and came to a stop — in the side of an apartment complex. The vehicle also took out a power control box leaving residents of the apartments without power for some time.

“The driver of that vehicle was stone cold sober,” noted West Logan Police Chief Robert Ward, who added, “We were told later that he had another accident earlier that day over in Midelburg.”

While Second Avenue is no stranger to accidents, over the years there have been several in the same area, mostly caused by people driving too fast coming out of a straight stretch into a blind curve. However, it’s not the area where the most complaints have been coming from, noted West Logan Town Council member Ruby Moore. Moore explained that there have been complaints about speeding vehicles, including motorcycles and ATVs on First Avenue as well.

“This is an important thing to be aware of,” Moore said. “School is out now, and there are a lot of smaller children in West Logan who can be found out playing any time of the day when they are not in school. So we are asking people to slow it down, and keep an eye out for children. When children are at play, it is better to be safe and drive slow and be aware of them, than it is to be sorry later after an accident has taken place.”

Chief Ward agreed noting that there have also been complaints about people driving too fast on Third Avenue in West Logan.

“One night during municipal court there was half a neighborhood up in arms about alleged speeding on that narrow, congested street,” Ward said. “The court judge and myself went up there to talk with people about this and to let them know this is a safety issue and we will not tolerate it. There are so many small kids who play up there, and on First Avenue especially when school is out, that it’s just too dangerous to speed. We have spoken to the town officials about this and we are fully prepared to levy maximum fines for anybody who gets caught speeding in West Logan. It doesn’t matter if you are in a car, van, truck, AVT, dirtbike or whatever. Stop before you hurt somebody or catch a maximum fine. It is not worth risking a child’s life to show off how fast you think you can drive.”